


A Speed By Any Other Name

by cancerthecrabbo



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode Tag: s03ep08 Invasion!, F/M, Government Experimentation, Identity Erasure, Medical Experiments, Mind Games, More tags to be added, Snapshots, Will get Darker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-08 18:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11087211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cancerthecrabbo/pseuds/cancerthecrabbo
Summary: "To prove his point, Barry took a stroll around them, his lightning fanning out behind him.  In real time, he was flashing and once he stopped only a couple nanoseconds passed by.  To Barry, he was walking calmly."Or, the one in which Barry is not convinced so easily and is still the fastest man alive.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> People seem to forget that Barry can outrun a bullet and the only other metahuman that can keep up with him is Kara. She doesn't want to hurt him this time, either. Wally isn't even present, and Jesse is in a different dimension.

It was the only way.  Surrendering himself was the only way.  Not only to save the earth and countless innocent lives – including his family – but to repent for all of his sins.  Flashpoint was his demon to deal with.  So Barry turned away from his team.

 

“I won’t let you go, Barry.”  The determination in Oliver’s voice was grimly amusing to Barry.

 

“No offense, Oliver, but you and what army?”  He didn’t even bother turning.  “It’s almost as if you forget I’m the fastest man alive.  I don’t want to fight you, and I don’t need to.  It’s a matter of getting to the military base the fastest.”  To prove his point, Barry took a stroll around them, his lightning fanning out behind him.  In real time, he was flashing and once he stopped only a couple nanoseconds passed by.  To Barry, he was walking calmly.  Kara was the only one able to even attempt following him with her eyes, so by the time he was leaning against a table she was halfway around.

 

It only took a few moments for them to all turn around, but the message was loud and clear.

 

“Tell Iris I love her.”  And then he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world of science is quite amazing.

"We've been waiting for you, Mr. Allen.  You'll be quite useful in our endeavors to learn of the mysterious metahumans that been plaguing our world.  Threatening innocents."

 

Barry glared up at the man but said nothing.  He had to be careful in this situation.  After all, he was the one strapped down and almost naked in a metal chair.

 

When he gave himself up, he thought the aliens would be the one to take him.  Away from Earth, away from his family.  They were present, rasping in their foreign tongue, but they were milling around a military base.  It turned out that the government had made a deal to share Barry as a subject and all experiments would be held in cooperation with the Dominators.  The government was apparently not going to waste the opportunity to figure out how a metahuman - and a famous one at that - worked.  Ever since the Flash had freed Firestorm, when he was half-Ronnie and half-Stein, the military had been working on more and more gadgets that got past his defenses.

 

For example, they began to pump him full of a paralyzing agent that had been designed for his hyper-metabolism.

 

"We'll start out slow so that you get used to how things work.  We and the 'Dominators' will be using you to help our scientists invent a variety of defenses against any meta that threatens the peace.  You should be honored you were chosen.

 

From now on, you are Subject 836 and will be addressed as such.  Remember that you gave yourself up.  You are now a scientific subject and will speak when spoken to."

 

From then on, it only got worse.

 

They stopped feeding Barry actual food to see how easily they can sustain him.  After they recorded his reaction and collected the results of his blood test post-Chem 17-PE, two guards escorted him to his cell and one man wearing a lab coat started an IV to pump nutrients in.  The cell wasn't power-dampening because they needed his genetic mutation to be working for the experiments to bear real information.  They could take the risk because Barry wouldn't run, and the government knew it.  

 

The next day wasn't so pleasant.

 

"Today we will be testing Chem 29-PN on Subject 836.  It has been modified over time to affect metas with hypermetabolism."  A stout woman with a Hispanic accent raised the syringe for the line of scientists to see.  Barry was wearing pants today, but no shirt.  The cold metal pressed against his bare skin.

 

It was agreed that he would speak when spoken to and would not disrupt the experiments.  However, when the clear fluid made its way down into his bloodstream, he couldn't keep quiet.  It felt as though lava was forced through the IV line and spread out throughout his whole body.  He grunted and pushed against the metal restraints, a choked scream escaping.

 

"Chem 29-PN is successful."


	3. Chapter 3

There is a certain amount of tact that one must have when discussing this sort of thing.  The subject could be seen as delicate from some angles.

 

"How the hell did a room full of stubborn ass vigilantes let one scrawny little 20-something-year-old get away from them?"  Joe appreciated that even as an aging cop he could get some flinches out of these young and stupid.

 

"Uh, sir," Kara said, because how else does she address this armed cop, "Barry is, uh, he's too fast.  Even I can't keep up with him when he doesn't want me to."

 

"Did you not anticipate Barry giving himself up like the damn martyr he is?  Dear God, it's a miracle that none of you are already dead, but I guess this was bound to happen, as you're a bunch of toddlers running around in your tights," he pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting off a headache like an oncoming storm.

 

Caitlin sighed.  Her eyebrows were furrowed.  "We have to get him back immediately.  They've been wanting a metahuman test subject ever since Barry helped save Firestorm.  And we know they've already prepared some things that depend on his speed.  Who knows what they're doing to him right now, as we speak."  The temperature in the room seemed to drop with those words.

 

"You're right.  They're probably experimenting on him right now, but we need a plan.  His presence is keeping the Dominators back right now.  You all know that if someone gets hurt because we didn't think this through, Barry will blame himself," Oliver said firmly. 

 

"You better think quick," was all that Joe said before turning on his heel and walking away from them.

 

* * *

 

Barry realized at one point, not much after they began the tests, that they well and truly did not see him as a human anymore.  Before, he'd been holding on to a completely unfounded hope.  And then they tested his pain receptors.

 

They hooked him up to electrodes and ignored his furious stare.  They ignored how loudly he screamed when the electric impulses stimulated the area of his brain that made every nerve feel like it was on fire.  Sharp, pure agony gripped him, and it was the only think he could focus on.  There was nothing to hold on to, nothing he could do but scream and scream.  The metal restraints were reinforced and for this experiment the scientists did dampen his power, to make sure he didn't phase out of them.  Barry tried to focus his mind on the fury he felt, glaring with unadulterated hate.  The pain didn't stop, and neither did his shrieks.  They jotted down notes and spoke calmly to each other as if observing a glacier breaking, instead of something inside of Barry shattering.

 

It was mind-blowing how cruel they could be but soon it turned into a routine.  The way they treated him was expected - not quite as though he was garbage, but so detached and clinical it sent chills down his spine.  When they came to pass a tray of water and oddly disgusting bread through the slot in his cell, they didn't even bother looking at him.  Through the glass, he leveled his stare at them, the emotion behind it varying.  Cold and furious, blank and despondent, or even darkly curious.  He wondered why they were like this.

 

He never needed to think about why this was happening.  He knew he deserved this, and yet he knew something about his very self would change irreversibly if he gave up before the right time.  Barry knew that day would come because he could feel it approaching quickly.  Every moment he spent in his cell or completely bare in front of an array of scientists and revolting aliens he could feel it coming.


End file.
